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With four lists in The Business Journal issue of June 24 – 30, it’s hard to know where to start. Of course, all four lists are fascinating, but the LEED Commercial Spaces probably has the biggest “wow” factor.

The Jacksonville Business Journal did its first LEED spaces list in 2008 and it had a whopping five buildings on it. That’s probably the shortest list we have ever published. It included three silver and two certified projects.

In case you’re wondering, LEED stands for leadership in energy and environmental design and is a third-party certification program for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. Building certified are ranked either certified, silver or gold. The program is run by the U.S. Green Building Council and we have a chapter of the council here in North Florida.

In 2009, the number of buildings meeting the certification criteria had jumped to 11, in 2010 it was 22 and this year we hit the maximum 25 on the June list. The certified projects that were included on the list were reduced to just one as the number of gold and silver projects increased.

Here’s how those years looked in certifications:

– 2008 Gold – 0, Silver – 3, Certified - 2

– 2009 Gold – 0, Silver – 7, Certified - 4

– 2010 Gold – 4, Silver – 13, Certified - 5

– 2011 Gold – 8, Silver – 16, Certified – 1

One of the reasons these numbers have increased is a shift in marketing. From an emphasis of “it’s good for the planet and the right thing to do,” it’s now “the benefits outweigh the costs and will improve your bottom line.” We have a special report in the June 24 edition that gets into the details of how businesses are saving money with green initiatives.

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